When Neal is up too late
by Artistically challenged
Summary: Neal and some other Tamora Pierce characters are up very late. Haven't we all stayed up really late doing something or other? Rated for a moderate swearing and random fires, cuts, and injuries. I was very bored and tired when I was writing this story.
1. Neal's letter

WHEN NEAL IS UP TOO LATE

**Disclaimer: I own nothing of Tamora Pierce's NOTHING! YOU HEAR ME! DON'T SUE ME! PLEASE! I don't own Neal. Oh well..."Come here Dom. I won't hurt you...Come on..."**

Neal couldn't sleep. He had to write a letter to Kel explaining how he felt.

_Dearest Kel,_ No! That sounded too intimate without telling her anything yet!

_Dear Kel,_

_I have never told you, but I have always had feelings for you_ No! Too abrupt.

_I love you. _Damn, that wasn't it!

_Kel, I hope you understand that I have to say this._ No, it sounds strange.

Neal grabbed a piece of buttered bread on his desk. Devouring it, he went back to thinking. Playing around with his penknife, Neal kept saying words in his head, trying to make it sound right.

Eventually, the penknife slid over his thumb, causing it to bleed.

"Shit." Neal exclaimed. Still his mind was on Kel. Distracted, Neal rolled a ball of bread in his hands. About to pop it into his mouth, he realized that it was all bloody.

"Oops." Neal said. Eyeing the bread with distaste, he placed it back on his plate. Once again, Neal grew distracted and popped the bread ball into his mouth.

"YUCK!" Neal shouted, as he tasted blood. Spitting out the bread, he crumpled up yet another piece of paper. Gulping down some water, Neal returned to the letter.

It was extremely late, and Neal dozed off on his desk. He only awoke when he realized that he was tasting blood (again.) In his sleep, he had been sucking his thumb, which was still bleeding. Sighing to himself, Neal started healing his thumb. In less than a minute, he was back to thinking up a letter.

Finally he realized that it was no use. Anyway, she probably didn't feel the same about him, so she would not be friends with him anymore. Unhappy, Neal gave in to sleep. The bloody penknife disappeared sometime in the night, not to be seen again.

_(A/N: Ooh, a mystery ending. I love mysteries. mysterymysterymystery. Whatever.)_


	2. Dreams within dreams

11-12-05

When Numair is up too late

**Disclaimer: I don't own Numair, Daine, or Anne of Green Gables either. "Puny mages, you annoy me!" (Eats mages.) Thieves rule! (Eek, please don't flame me. Not the fire! AIIIHHH!**

_Just…got…to…finish…this…last…test…_Numair though drowsily. It was surely past midnight. Not a good idea for mages to stay up too late. You never know what might happen…

Through bleary eyes, Numair peered at his bottles. _Is this the right one?_ he asked himself. _Oh, who cares?_ Numair recklessly tossed the contents into the cauldron. It burst into flames.

_Damn…That wasn't right…_ Numair casually shot a stream of oil at the fire. It flared up and started to burn the room up.

_No, no you idiot! WATER! _Numair chided himself, shooting water at the fire. His room was drenched. Flames were still licking the curtains.

_Go away!_ Numair thought. _I'm trying to…sleep…_ Numair fell asleep, his book sliding to his lap, where it turned into a llama and trotted away.

_(A/N: Okay, so maybe llamas don't trot…So sue me. Just a minute, the llamas are taking me to court. I'll be back in a couple days… "Get your paws/ hooves /trotters/ whatever-you-have off of me!" Sheesh! Okay, back to the story.)_

_It was so cold. He could see his own breath. He was freezing. And why was their a bunny on top of him?_ Numair swatted the "bunny" in his sleep.

"Numair, wake up right now!" Daine screeched, flying to the moon. _(A/N: Read my Modern Tortall to understand this a little more.)_

"Wha-?" Numair grumbled.

"Numair, get dressed, take a shower, eat lunch, and get ready for your appointment! The king sent for you, or did you forget?" Daine nagged.

"All right, I'll get up…Just…a…few…more…minutes…" Numair sagged into his chair, which collapsed sending him into an undignified sprawl on the ground, his robe floating to land on top of him.

"Numair, what's gotten into you lately? You've been sleeping in past the morning bell, although how anyone could sleep with THAT ruckus, I have no idea, for the past fortnight! You need to get to bed earlier!" Daine continued, heedless to Numair's plight.

"Urmpf bliks!" Numair disputed from under his robe.

"From now on, I'm monitoring your late nights. If you're not in bed by tenth bell, I'll- I'll- set the kittens on you!" Daine threatened.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Dom screamed. _(A/N: Read Dom's Fear of Kittens.)_

"Please, Daine. Not the kittens!" Numair protested, pulling the robe off of his face.

"Oh yes, the kittens." Daine nodded her head firmly. Numair got up resolutely. Then everything went purple, because the author is tired of people "blacking out" all of the time. Numair "purpled out," instead.

**In the Infirmary**

"Numair, are you all right?" Daine asked worriedly. Numair groaned.

"Oh good, that means your alive," Daine said, mostly to herself. Numair groaned again.

"I hope you know that this means you'll be getting to bed earlier. Like I said before, I suppose I'm going to have to monitor your sleeping habits. This is exactly what I was afraid of. You purple out when you don't get enough sleep, you know that? Poor baby, what was it like to purple out? Was it fun? Did you see weird things? That what everyone says when they purple out, but since I'm not stupid enough to purple out I wouldn't know," Daine paused for breath.

"Would you shut up!" Neal shouted from the next cot over. He was having his finger treated from the night before.

"Wait!" Numair cried out, "My workroom! It was in flames!" Numair waved his hands around.

"Oh dear, that's not very good. And to think that you might have gone in flames with it! Well, I didn't see any flames when I went in, but I wasn't looking for any flames. I hadn't though about a fire, because I figured if there was any fire, it would have gotten to you. Now that you mention it, I believe I did see a fire. It was pretty bad. Your books, glass, cots; everything was a bit of smoldering ashes," Daine laughed tinkly, "Funny isn't it, how they can just go- Poof- and now they're ashes. All that sensitive work that probably took all of your life. Gone, like that! Well, I hope this will teach you a lesson."

Neal groaned, resigning himself to a very long day. Numair, however, looked more closely at "Daine".

"Daine, what happened to you? You're really talkative. What's wrong?" Numair looked concerned.

"Who's Daine? I'm Anne. Spelled with an 'e' if you'd be so kind. Daine is a rather nice name though, don't you think? Hmm, I'll have to think about that when I name my new best friend," Where Daine had sat was now occupied by a freckled, red-haired girl. _(A/N: Anne of Green Gables.)_

"Ahhh! What did you do to Daine!" Numair shouted.

"I ATE HER!" Anne shouted, attacking Numair.

**In the Infirmary**

"It doesn't look good," Duke Baird said solemnly. "He's hallucinating. If his fever doesn't break, he may die."

Daine watched soberly as Numair twitched and sweated. Duke Baird left to give Daine some privacy.

"Shoot, I have to go to the privy," Daine said. She looked both ways, but no one was around except the sleeping bloody-fingered Neal. Her bladder ruled her mind however, and Daine rushed off to the nearest privy.

Suddenly a giant pink penguin ate the infirmary! AHHH…

**George's Room.**

George sat upright, panting. Phew…It was all a dream…


End file.
